Vermin
by Honey Nut Loop
Summary: A universe where hybrids are scorned, shunned and executed. And Gohan is in the middle of it.
1. Our Father Who art in Heaven

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ.

Vermin

-----

Our father…Who Art in Heaven

Blip…Blip...Blip

On and on, the computer announced its discovery to any who cared to hear it. A little green bulb pulsed in time with the sound, sending brief flashes of light into a room that would have otherwise been lit by nothing but stars. The sum of life in the room amounted to nil, unless you counted the decaying space weevil in the corner waiting for a droid to clear it away. But that emptiness was all about to change.

Blip…blip…blip

The door to the computers' darkened room slid open without a sound. A sliver of glaring, unnatural light filtered in and with it came a being so strange that on earth its like had never been conceived; the first creature to enter that room since the computer had made its find.

Blip…Blip…Blip

The creature swung up to the machine on his lengthy arms, diminutive legs hanging uselessly underneath, scurrying for a foothold in the recycled air.

The creature threw itself into a moth eaten swivel chair and with fingers, which clawed the floors and handled food without being washed, it tapped at the computers screen. Had any other digits but his own attempted this they would have gone straight through the holomonitor to receive the shock of their life, literally, and it would have been their last shock. Wires galore littered the space behind the VDU, each unearthed and conducting tens of thousands of volts. The station was DNA sensitive. So if you weren't meant to be there, you really didn't want to be.

"Let's see," rumbled the alien from his perch, his crocodile-jaws accompanying each word with a snap.

The relentless blipping of the computer terminal died away. The alien studied the screen, nostrils fluttering. It blinked as understanding dawned in its widening eyes.

"What in the name of a flying arse…!"

Its stubby fingers scurried across the screen. There had to be some mistake. But no. The calculations came back time and again. There was no chance in hell it was a computer malfunction. It wasn't possible or at least extremely unlikely. This wasn't arrogance, no. He was just a genius.

Intelligence wasn't what had earned him his own little poky private office in the darkest corner of the space station though. Unfortunately, members of his species could secrete rather pungent pheromones when feeling strong emotions. Which meant at that moment, unless you were a female of his race, the stench of the room could deliver a knock out blow.

Fear, excitement and pride. But a few of the emotions wafting in an eddy and flow of odour. But mostly the being, which looked like a cross between a gorilla and a crocodile, was feeling smug. And he had reason to be.

The boss was going to be oh so pleased with him.

-----

"No mum you shut up, this is bloody hard on me too"

Gohan slammed the door behind him. It rattled on its hinges and sent tremors through the mountain valley. Cracks snaked out up the walls from the doorframe.

Chi Chi stepped back, clutching the oven for support. It was too late to berate her son. Even if he had still been there she wouldn't have been able to squeak. The plate, she'd been drying shattered in her hands. Shards embedded themselves in the palms of her hand. The pregnant woman barely noticed the dribbles of red marring the kitchen tiles. Her legs buckled and she sank into the puddle of her own blood, eyes staring at the space where her son had stood.

Where had it all gone wrong? She knew the answer.

-----

There were always rows nowadays, arguments, squabbles, disputes…fights. Any who passed through the front door found themselves immediately on edge. The house was no longer a home. No photos on the walls. Gohan had shattered them. No tournament trophies. He'd melted those. And the orange gis he'd burnt on a pyre at the peak of Mount Paozu. His mother had objected, of course. A smashed cupboard and a cold glare had quickly set her to rights.

Gohan fell back on the midnight grass and let the late dew soothe the heat burning inside him. But nothing seemed able to extinguish the raging fire in his heart. And why shouldn't he be angry? His father had abandoned them, him and his mother both and he…Gohan paused. Shook his head. The way he treated his mother was different. He wasn't abandoning her. He was trying to make her see what a loathsome example of humanity her husband was. But she wouldn't stop loving him. Gohan had.

His chest twinged. He shook his head. He threw his arms to either side and let the rays of the waxing moon cradle him. Eyes open, unblinking… unseeing. A white light flickered across the black of space, a shooting star, which couldn't grant the wish entrusted to it.

-----

Honey Nut Loop


	2. Hallowed be thy name

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ.

Hallowed be thy name

-----

"Get your glands out of here, stink bomb," growled the guard, trying to cover his nose. His visor thwarted the attempt.

"Friendly", murmured Tang. He shifted his weight from arm to arm, flicking out his reptilian tongue to clean his eyeballs. The guard grimaced. Tang smirked back, flashing several rows of sharp teeth. Well, it wasn't his fault he had no eyelids.

'Just hurry up and let me through. I've got pressing business with his Lordship.'

'I don't think-'

Tang's pheromones punched the guard as effectively as a fist to the face. The guard was unconscious before he hit the floor. Tang took care to plant a hand in his stomach when he stepped over the top of him and through the not-so-well guarded doors.

The reception was bright and cheerful. But then so is the waiting room of a Dentist's office. The potted plant in the corner wilted a little when Tang passed.

It was testament to the secretary's professionalism that her smile barely wavered when she saw quite who had interrupted her magazine perusing. She aimed a bottle of perfume in Tang's direction.

'Can I help you?'

He leered up at her, molesting the edge of her desk with his fingertips. Oh to have the guard's height, and indulge in a view of her cleavage. ''Lo, sweetness. Here to see his Lordship. 'Specting me he is.'

'I'll let him know you're here.'

She leaned away, tapping at her com and muttering into her headset. One eye never left Tang and his every move. When she had to turn to a cabinet behind her, the eye swivelled to the back of her head.

'He says to go through.'

Tang nodded. 'Thank you kindly, Ma'am.'

'Just go. Go.'

She the air in perfume, her cheeks a little green. Well, greener than normal anyway. Tang shook his head. Shame on her for thinking Tang's musk could be masked so easily. As Tang passed through the next set of doors she keeled off her stool and vanished behind her desk with a thump.

His Lordship's office was dark. Until Tang's eyes adjusted. Then it was just dim, lit by the planet, which filled the viewing wall behind the desk and silhouetted the Lord's chair. The shadow's seemed to shiver. Any one of them might concela his Lordship and there was no telling what mood he was in.

'Tang.' The Lord's whisper came from all corners of the room, no louder than a breath. It made Tang's pores quake. But he didn't dare relieve them here.

Tang bowed. Swinging his head towards the ground and pistoning his buttocks into the air. 'Lordship.'

'What is so important that you bother me with your pestilence?'

Tang gulped. His pheromone build up gave a violent throb. He started toward the desk, holding out a black screen the size of his palm with his foot. 'If it pleases your Lordship. I picked up a signal, see. Powerful signal it was. Long ways off too and still strong. And I thinks, 'By heck-''

'Cease, Tang.'

Tang froze. Though not by choice. He was mid-swing. By all laws, momentum should have carried him forwards at least another metre. His legs scrabbled with the air.

The screen lifted out of his hand as gently as one might lift a babe and floated its own path to the desk. Silence followed, in which Tang did not dare make a sound.

'Is this true?'

'S'true as my granddaddy had seven sets of teeth.' It was a well-known fact after all, of which Tang was rightly proud. Silence once more. Tang would have swallowed if he had any moisture left. His handheld beeped from somewhere in amongst the shadows.

'Interesting. It appears we shall be taking a little trip, Tang. You have done well. If that is all…'

Tang said nothing. He couldn't. The force had locked around his throat.

'Go now.'

The power welding Tang in place fell away. He crumpled to the floor. Faster than a blink he was back on his feet and backing out into reception.

'Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.' He accompanied each syllable with a bow.

When the door closed between him and his Lord Tang let go with a grown that was all pleasure. Gaseous pus streamed out of his pores until the air matched the walls. A moment longer and he was sure he would have exploded. It wasn't healthy to hold it in for so long. Still, a skin could be shed. A neck was for life.

The secretary was still unconscious on the floor behind her desk, a puddle of drool under her head and a puddle of piss under her rear. Incontinence. An unfortunate side effect of Tang's excretions.

Never one to waste an opportunity Tang copped a feel before he left. He left his signature pair of grubby handprints across her chest, something to welcome her when she woke.

---

Gohan stared at the sky. Sweat beaded across his brow. Already he was starting to pant and that was only from _sensing_ it.

'You feel it, kid?' Piccolo landed beside him. Gohan barely acknowledged him.

'What is it?'

Ki. Each alone was not a threat. But a thousand of them… Do the math. No Z warrior could keep their guard up against so many. And they were coming closer. Fast. An hour before they'd barely flickered at the edge of Gohan's conscious. Now they marched across his brain. _'We're coming to get you and there's nothing you can do.'_

'An army.'

'Coincidence?'

Piccolo slid Gohan a sideways look.

That's what he'd thought. 'So much for Dad leaving to make the world a better place. Earth's hit me sign is just as effective without him.'

'Kid-'

'Not now, Piccolo. Just… Not now, ok?'

Vegeta touched down six feet to Gohan's right. Eyes pointing to the sky, arms crossed over his chest. His bulging muscles betrayed his anxiety.

'When will they get here?'

'Soon.'

---

At first there had been screaming. Everywhere. And blood and bodies. Now they'd quieted to the odd shriek. With every shriek Gohan felt a ki snuff out. Buildings had been torn apart like cheese. Dozens had toppled to rubble in the street; one too many bricks taken from the Jenga tower. In far too many places only the furrows of foundations told that a building had ever stood. Gohan didn't want to think about the people who must have been stuck in the brieze block coffins. They'd been built to withstand earthquakes. The humans had been so proud of themselves. But nothing could have prepared them for this. The air reeked of roasting flesh.

Gohan pressed his back to the over turned BMW M3, and nursed his broken arm. Scratches painted a map across his back and torso. The remains of his gi barely preserved his modesty. Sweat and tears trailed riverbeds of white skin through the dirt and blood on his cheeks. Gohan's hair flickered from blonde to black and stayed there. He didn't reach for Super Saiyan. He was burnt out. The best he could do was preserve the energy he had and keep from passing out.

Piccolo had fallen an hour ago, Vegeta shortly after that. As usual, the Saiyan had pushed for the strength of ascended and shouldered the muscle bulk that came with it. With so many opponents he should have allied with speed. But Vegeta had never been one to look at the long term. Inevitably, he'd been overwhelmed. He'd crashed down somewhere near Capsule Corporation.

As for Krillin? He hadn't stood a chance.

The sky swarmed with soldiers. The second wave, armed and fresh, when Earth had no more fighters to offer. The soldiers dimmed the sky like bees from a swarm. Their space ship was a giant blister on Earth's orbit.

A set of footsteps drew near, marching through the rubble not far from Gohan's hide away. Gohan's hands curled into fists. Even that hurt. The footsteps themselves were of no concern. Several had passed by before them and it had lifted Gohan's morale to hear the earthlings fleeing for their lives. They still had lives to flee for. But those footsteps had been stilted, their rhythms broken due to injury or blind terror. These one had purpose

Thud, Thud. One, Two. Crunch. They silenced.

'You might as well come out.'

Gohan tried to still his breathing. The man was guessing. He couldn't know Gohan's was there, not with Gohan's ki pushed so low.

'Come now, don't be shy.'

He was going to die, Gohan was sure of it. He had nothing left. Damn you Dad, for leaving. One more fighter might have been enough to tip the balance. Well, it looked like Gohan would get a chance to tell his Dad what he thought quite soon. Better to die on his feet fighting than as a cowering coward.

Gohan rolled out from behind the car. The gravely remains of a once great empire crackled beneath his feet. A fraction of a second later the car exploded. Wind and heat sent Gohan's hair spiralling around his face. Gohan didn't blink. He kept his eyes trained on his opponent. He'd had a good instructor. He knew better than to look away.

And it was thanks to that same instructor that he still didn't move when the dust cleared and he saw his enemy for the first time. The figure was armoured by blue scales. Unless it was a suit, and Gohan didn't think it was, he was otherwise naked. In place of a nose he had only two slits and flaps on either side of his neck that might have been gills. A crest, which had lain dormant on its head, rose into the air when the creature saw Gohan and quivered like the tail of a rattlesnake.

'My, my. Such a little boy.'

Gohan sank into a defensive stance, a 60:40 distribution of his weight with more on his front foot. He had no energy left for attack. And this man was stronger than the soldiers thronging the skies. A lot stronger. Gohan's muscles wailed. His broken arm protested. Gohan's face betrayed nothing at all.

The creature cocked its head to one side. A set of tusks sprang out from its bottom jaw and over its lips. 'His Lordship wants a word with you.'

As the man leapt forward, Gohan phased out. The world became a blur of colour, where fly's wings were slow and Gohan heard only the sound of rushing air.

HNL

NB: It has been two years since I started this fanfic but I offer the second chapter in the hopes that someone might read it.


	3. Kingdom

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ

Kingdom

-----

'I have him, my Lord.'

A pause.

'Very well, sir.' Scaly Blue lowered his communicator.

Gohan feigned sleep. Eavesdropping on the one sided conversation was proving less fruitful than he'd hoped. A brass band pounding in his head made it hard to concentrate. Darkness beckoned at the edges of his consciousness. Gohan so wanted to fall into her embrace.

A toe nudged him in the ribs. Broken ribs. Older men would have screamed from the agony. Gohan managed to suppress himself to a sharp exhale, but it wasn't good enough and he knew it. Even that little sound was enough to give him away.

'You're not dead then. Good.'

Gohan growled.

'Now, I know you can do better than that.' The foot returned. This time it settled on Gohan's head. And pressed down. If not for his saiyan blood Gohan's brain would have oozed out of his ears. It still forced tears out of his eyes. Even from beyond the grave, Gohan had to rely on his father to save him. If he had been human he would have been long dead. If he had been human he probably wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place.

'Wakey wakey. Rise and shine.'

Gohan lunged for the foot. 'Get off!'

The foot vanished long before Gohan could grab it. Gohan cursed himself, curling his fists. A waste of energy. He knew better than that. Gohan barely had the ki to keep his heart beating without the need to throw it around when he knew he couldn't win.

Gohan levered himself up onto all fours, peeling himself from a congealing puddle of his own blood. The few cuts that had managed to knit themselves together tore open and oozed anew. One of his eyes was swollen shut. Gohan turned the other on Scaly Blue in the best glare he could manage.

But he had to close his eye. Scaly Blue blurred between being one figure and two. Gohan could see light. And dark. Movement made his head spin.

'What do you want?' He'd aimed for defiance. Instead he managed a croak. He didn't even know why was still alive. Losing was unforgivable. Losing was death. The enemy never offered mercy and there was no doubt Gohan had lost. And this time there was no one to save his skin at the cost of their own.

Scaly Blue crouched to Gohan's eyelevel and lifted Gohan's matted fringe. 'On your knees is it, boy? I like that.'

Gohan narrowed his eyes. Partly to show Scaly Blue exactly what he thought of him, but mostly because the drumming in his head was growing stronger. Or was it in his head? Gohan tilted his ear very slightly towards the door. Footsteps. And closing. Scaly Blue didn't appear to have noticed. The alien stroked Gohan's forehead. If he'd let go Gohan didn't think he could have held his head up.

'Poor pretty boy. My Lord-'

The door slid open. Scaley Blue whirled around.

'-outside. There shouldn't be any trouble.'

'Yes sir.'

When Scaly Blue saw who had entered he scuttled several metres from Gohan When he stopped he was on one knee with a fist pressed over where is heart would have been if he' been human. The door slid shut.

Of the seven figures that had approached the room, only one entered. A robe haloed the new blur, hugging its waist and flaring around its legs as though caught in a non-existent wind. Though that might just have been Gohan's poor focus.

The man twined a strand of his waist length hair around his fingers. 'This child is the one we seek, Anura?'

'Yes, sir,' said Scaly Blue, head bowed and eyes never lifting from the floor.

'What have you done to him?'

Did Scaly Blue wince?

'He did not wish to see you, my Lord.'

My Lord. So this was the tyrant in charge. Gohan fixed his eyes where he thought he'd find the man's own and did his best to sound authoritative. He was representing earth. That gave him so credence, right? 'Who are you? Why are killing my people?' Gohan's legs wobbled when he tried to rise to his feet. Bad idea. He dropped back down. 'I won't let you! I'll-'

'Dear boy. All your fit for is a medic's attention and I'm not even certain you could survive long enough to find one unaided.'

'I'm not afraid to die.'

'No one ever said you were. Anura, would you care to tell me what is going on?'

Gohan could have sworn he saw Anura flinch. 'There was… a degree of resistance planet-side, my Lord. They believed us to be invading.'

'And you allayed their fears?'

Anura lowered his head.

'I see.'

'What?' said Gohan, glancing between the two as much as his neck would allow. This was his planet they were talking about and they treated him like a child. Well, maybe he was a child, but he was also the only one there who cared for Earth's best interests. 'What?'

'Forgive me. It would seem my Anura has overstepped his bounds.' The Lord shook his head, like a disappointed parent. 'Oh Anura. I had thought you stronger than your bloodlust.'

'It won't happen again, my Lord.'

The Lord seemed to glide over the ground as he approached. He took Anura's face in his hand and tilted it up to meet his eyes. 'I'm sure it won't.' He smiled, rubbing Anura's jaw. 'Dear Anura. There are no second chances.'

It was over before Anura could even look horrified. There was a loud crack and Scaly Blue's body slumped like a puppet who's strings had been cut. Only his Lord's hand kept him on his knees. The Lord tossed the corpse into the corner like so much dirty laundry. He teased a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped his fingers one by one, tutting and shaking his head as he did so.

'An unpleasant business, I'm sure. But one does what one must. It saddens me that our first meeting should be in this way, child. Anura committed a terrible sin against your people. I hope you are satisfied with his punishment. In your present condition I did not think it prudent for you to execute him yourself.'

If he hadn't been fighting not to show weakness Gohan would have choked. 'You could have just locked him away.'

The Lord's laugh waltzed up Gohan's spine. 'Oh my boy. And what good would that have done? The living are damned to repeat their mistakes. The dead cannot, yet in their death deliver a very clear message to others that such crimes will not be tolerated.'

This man was a monster. No. Monsters weren't responsible for their actions. They had no notion of right and wrong. A murderer with power? Now that was a dangerous thing. And one that could justify his crimes? Gohan shuddered. God help them all.

'Your name, child?'

He saw no reason not to tell. 'Gohan,' he whispered to the floor, cradling his broken arm. The bone had been knocked out of line and bulged under the skin. Another knock and it would punch its way out like a finger from a glove.

'And you must call me highness or Lordship, as you please. Do not think me presumptuous. I am well aware you are not of my rule. However it would be foolish to lose face before my government via colloquialisms, which could be avoided. They would think you of great worth if I allowed such familiarity, and might steal you away.' His life was like a symphony of hand bells. 'By all means, don't get me wrong, my Gohan. Your worth is greater than even you realise. But now-'

The Lord clapped his hands. The doors slid open, this time spitting out a troop of soldiers in matching uniforms, bearing a stretcher.

'Deliver Master Gohan to the medical unit, post haste. Ensure he receives the best of care.'

'Yes, Highness,' came the multiple, muffled response.

For Gohan that was the last his body could give him. His arms gave way and as he clumped to the floor the world faded to black.

---

The guard prodded Vegeta in the back, dazzling him with the sunlight glinting off his visor. 'March'

And Vegeta did, dragging his useless right leg through the rubble. He'd resisted once. Once had been enough. He'd given up while he could still walk.

Parks were potholes. Buildings were crumbs. Roads were a spiderweb cracks that would have enthused any die-hard modern art fan.

Vegeta's guard urged him towards a growing group of human's beside a war memorial dressed in rags and blood. Faeces too Vegeta's nose found out as they drew closer. The humans jostled together like spooked cattle. As long as they weren't hurt, as long as someone told them what to do, they were fluid to their captors' guns. The Poor wretches couldn't even see their own end.

'I found another one.'

One of the soldiers looked up, a clone of Vegeta's own guard for all the armour gave away. 'You stuck him?'

'Don't have reader.'

The new visor grunted. With no warning, he jabbed a needle into Vegeta's arm. Naturally, Vegeta bellowed. He tore his arm free, lashing out with the other. His own guard casually pressed a taser into his back and pulled the trigger. Electricity coursed along Vegeta's already sensitive nerves. His back arched. His muscles locked.

After several seconds the charge stopped. Vegeta collapsed as though his bones had turned to jelly. The human pack skittered away like unsettled cattle. The visors drove them back.

'Whoa. Whoa. Calm down. Calm, I said.'

No one told Vegeta to get up, or offered to help him to his feet, or asked after his well-being. Not that he needed them too. But after so many years on earth he found himself anticipating aid. He curled his lip at his own weakness. What would his father say of him now?

'What does it say?'

'Saiyan.'

'Really? Who'd have thought it? A warrior race and this is all they've got to show for it.'

The Visor nudged Vegeta with his toe. Vegeta rolled where the foot willed, his mind a mile away. _Bulma…I'm sorry._


	4. The Innocence of Youth

The Innocence of Youth

-----

The soldier flipped up his visor to speak. It wasn't strictly necessary, but he appreciated the fresh air. His helmet was a greenhouse at the best of times, and Earth's climate wasn't helping.

He saluted the commander by pressing a fist to his heart, restraining his surprise at quie who the commander was. 'Sir! My orders are to report to Commander Anura, sir!'

Commander Proteus's smile was like a lost battle. 'And now you will report to me, Captain. What of Earth?'

The captain hesitated, but only long enough for the commander to raise a hairless brow.

'There has been little resistance, sir. Nothing my men can't handle-'

In fact, Proteus was hairless in his entirety. His body was a gelatinous lump that took any form he pleased. At that moment he'd chosen a biped that would have been handsome if not for a grossly exaggerated muscle tone.

'The human's show signs of intelligence. Their trinkets are of some amusement.' The captain produced a capsule from his pocket, complete with Capsule Corporation logo. Commander Proteus took it with more delicacy than one would have expected from one o his size and lifted it to his eyelevel. His fingers melted around it, passing the imprint of its shape from his body to his mind for further analysis.

'Interesting. Anything else?'

'Negative, sir, not as of yet.'

'Very well. Dismissed.'

But the soldier hesitated. He considered not saying anything but he had his orders. Asking might be bad for him but not asking would have severe repercussions on his health. 'What's to be done with the humans, sir?'

Proteus frowned. He tossed the capsule into the air and caught it deftly. 'Hold them until further notice. Do not let them gather into large groups. The planet will soon be categorised.'

'Yes sir.' The captain dropped to one knee, pressing his fist to his chest. He stayed there until Proteus had squashed his great body back into his shuttlecraft.

-----

Gohan woke floating, like a babe in a womb. A mask pressed to his face was his umbilical cord. The fluid supporting him sucked away all sensation bar a tingling at the base of his spine. He felt so little he might as well have been a mind without a body.

Btter to feel nothing at all than to feel pain. And Gohan had been in pain. He only realised now it was gone quite to what extent.

It was warm here. A mother's hug. Gohan missed those. He tried to find the blackness again. He'd drift a little longer in this state of non-being where the weight of the world was someone else's concern and he could pretend not to exist. But the blackness wagged her finger. _Not now_, she said. So Gohan opened his eyes.

He knew where he was. He'd been there before. Well, not _there_ exactly, but in one similar. He knew enough not to panic at the closely packed walls. A Saiyan regeneration tank. Could he call them Saiyan? The Saiyans had probably scavenged the technology on an off world foray. So really, it should be no great surprise he found them here. Wherever here was.

The view through Gohan's porthole was tinted green and wobbled with the undulations of the healing goo. It wasn't very interesting anyway. Another regeneration tank.

Suddenly, without warning, something smothered the window from the outside. Gohan jerked his head back instinctively. At least he tried to. He moved in slow motion. Gohan could have smacked himself for his stupidity. What did he expect. Any idiot knew that the faster you tried to move through liquid the more resistance you hit. This goo was viscous enough to support his weight and still remain in liquid form. Even if he'd moved slowly he would have had trouble.

The goo started to gurgle. A great bubble rose past Gohan's nose. Another followed. Soon there was a stream striving for the growing pool at the top of the tank. And as the goo volume dropped Gohan sank until he sat on the grill at the bottom. The tank burbled like a satisfied baby as the last dregs gushed away. Only a few slugs remained, slithering across Gohan's body. His naked body.

Someone had taken his clothes. A stranger had stripped him whilst he slept and Lord knew what else they'd done. Gohan flushed red. He pulled his knees to his chest. His limbs moved slowly as though they were asleep, even though the goo was gone. But they did move. And just in time.

The tank door hissed as the air tight seal was broken from the outside. Air rushed in, reeking of antibiotics and disinfectant. It failed to cover the unmistakeable tang of blood.

Gohan blinked up at the doctor who'd birthed him. At least, Gohan assumed it was a doctor even if he did have green skin. The white coat gave it away. Strange that even on the other side of the universe doctors still wore white coats. Unless the coat was for Gohan's benefit. If so, the aliens needed to do a little more research. White coats weren't well loved by earthlings.

The Doctor's eyes scoured Gohan's body like he was a gourmet meal. Gohan didn't think it was possible to get any redder. Only once the Doctor had eaten his fill did he toss Gohan a towel.

Gohan caught it and dragged it to his lap.

'Can you stand?'

Gohan didn't know but he wasn't letting that man anywhere near him. He pushed himself up, but barely made it an inch off the ground before he slapped back down.

'I'll take that as a no then.'

So much for not letting the doctor near him. With aid, between them they managed to manoeuvre Gohan from the tank. Pressed against the taller body, he realised the white coat wasn't a Doctor's jacket at all. More a bathrobe. Clearly the man had anticipated getting coated in Gohan's slime. Why couldn't Gohan have a robe? It would certainly have been more effective than the tea towel, which kept trying to slide down his legs.

Healing chambers lined the walls like washing machines in a laundrettes. Only a few were in use, little green lights blinking on their fronts to let everyone know. The walls were tiled, gleaming white and wet. It wasn't condensation. Easy cleaning. A red stain rimmed a nearby drain. Gohan swallowed and looked away. Someone had missed a spot.

The Doctor guided Gohan through a sliding door off the side of the healing chamber and into what was more a glorified cupboard than a room. He pushed Gohan down onto a stainless steel bench, which took up most of the floor space. The bench grew half a metre the moment Gohan's weight dropped onto it.

Steel cupboards crowded the walls. A sink in the corner was suffocating under scalpels, forceps and tweezers and several instruments Gohan didn't recognise and didn't care to. The doctor plonked himself on a stool and scooted into Gohan's personal space. 'You're Gohan, right?' said the Doctor, eyes like the lights of an oncoming train. 'Well don't you worry! I'm just going to take a little blood to make sure you're A-ok. Ok?'

'Uh, no?'

The Doctor's searched for something under the table. When he came back up he was armed with a hypodermic. He waggled the needle in Gohan's direction. 'Now don't be a big baby. It won't hurt a bit. Just a little prick. I'm afraid this has to be done whether you want it to or not. We wouldn't want any of your nasty Earth diseases to escape into the crew now, would we?'

Man and needle approached their prey. The Doctor was between Gohan and the door. He could try and climb the cupboards. Or he could sit. What was a little blood? It wouldn't harm him.

When the needle plunged into the crook of his elbow Gohan had to reconsider. He bit his lip as it danced amongst his vessels and tissues.

'I've just got to find a vein.'

When the Doctor finally did, Gohan had never been so glad to see his life's blood leaking from him.

'Good boy.'

The Doctor tossed the syringe into a kidney bowl next to the sink. 'Almost ready to rumble. That's what you say on your planet, isn't it? Rumble?'

His hands darted back under the table like a pair of rats in need of Ritalin. They emerged brandishing a manacle. The Doctor flicked open its metal jaws and grinned with relish.

Gohan eyed it warily, hugging his arm across his chest. At least it wasn't broken anymore. 'What's that?'

'This?' said the Doctor, smile swelling like a puffer fish. 'This is nothing. This is just a little so we can keep track of you while you're here. We wouldn't want to lose you now, would we? We all wear them.' He pushed up his sleeve so Gohan could see the identical brass bangle wrapped around his own wrist.

Gohan shook his head, leaning away from the Doctor's eager fingers. 'I don't think I need one, thank you. I'm not staying long.'

'Well we can take it off when you leave then, can't we.'

And with that, the Doctor snapped the manacle around Gohan's wrist. The moment it closed Gohan's nerves burst into flame as though every one of them had been stimulated for pain at the same time. He tasted blood. He couldn't even hear his own scream.

A/N: I'm getting hits for all chapters of this story so far. But no reviews. Yes, I have four but they are all from two years ago when this fic first poked its nose into the ether. No reviews won't stop the story but it may slow it down. Disappointment is no great inspirer after all.


	5. A Gilded Cage

A Gilded Cage

-----

Warmth. Soft sheets. A duvet shielding him from the world. Home.

Gohan poked his head from the cave he'd made himself in his bed. He breathed deep, barely lifting his head from the pillow. And frowned. His body clock told him it was morning. But he couldn't smell breakfast. Come to think of it where was Mum. She never let him sleep in. He should have been up and studying hours ago tethered by the threat of no food until he'd finished the math problems on page three hundred and seventy two. Something was wrong. He opened his eyes, and was greeted by a foreign land. His heart fell. Not home after all.

The room was luxury, and a mockery to Earth's ruin. Red velvet drowned the bed in blood. The mattress: a Venus flytrap, and Gohan the fly in her jaws. He couldn't reach the edges even when he stretched his limbs to their limits. The door looked a mile away. At least, Gohan assumed it was the door. It was a dark outline on the wall roughly door-shaped and door-sized if you were human.

Gohan slithered from the bed and dropped cat-like to the carpet. His wrist throbbed when he hit the floor. Every nerve in his arm paged him at once. He hissed and pulled at the brass manacle welded to his skin. It didn't move, instead greeting him with another round of electric shocks. Better to leave it alone for now.

The carpet seemed to sense his presence and comforted him by wrapping around his bare toes. Only his toes weren't all that were bare. Gohan's fingers twitched toward the bed sheets but he resisted the urge to cover himself. They could be watching him even now. He would not show weakness. Besides, many people had seen him naked? Krillin. Piccolo. Mum and Dad. What was a stranger to add to the list? They probably didn't know the biology of what they were looking at anyway. The damn-

Damn what? Invaders? Aliens? No that wouldn't work. By earth standards Gohan was an alien too. Well, the damn whatever-they-weres had even taken his tea towel.

Gohan's heart fluttered uneasily in his chest, as he crept across the room. He kept his weight on his toes and his knees bent. Sure the room looked empty but that didn't mean someone couldn't appear from the skirting boards. Who knew what lurked inside the velvet drapes. His head never stopped swivelling making sure no corner of the room was left unguarded for long. He'd never wished more for an extra eye like Tien's.

He made it to the door. Only now Gohan wasn't so sure the black frame was a door. It didn't open. Which meant one of two things. A: It was locked. Or B: it wasn't a door at all and Gohan had been stalking a wall for the amusement of who knew how many aliens.

Gohan shifted from foot to foot. He had to do something he just didn't know what. He headed for the curtains. He didn't really expect a window. But what he found thre all thoughts of doors like lemmings off a cliff.

'No way!'

The final frontier. Space was as black and foreboding as he remembered from the trip to Namek. The stars were diamond drops winking and swishing their hips like sirens in a black sea.

Don't misunderstand, the night sky was a beautiful thing. From Gohan's bedroom window. Or lying on his back in the grass on a moonlit night. But to hang in it- To rely on nothingness to hold you up, and that same nothing not to give way and plummet you forever into its abyss- That Gohan didn't like at all.

Gohan heard a swish behind him. He whirled around. An opening had appeared in the wall within the black frame. Gohan felt a little thrill in his guts. It was a door. But the thrill was quickly replaced by trepidation. Someone was coming through it.

The woman's skin was the same shade of Granny Smith as the doctor from before. She looked up from the small VDU in her hand and smiled at Gohan.

'I didn't expect you to be awake so soon.' The alien woman's eyes scanned Gohan's body before snapping back to meet Gohan's own. 'Well I'm glad to see you too, but we really shouldn't rush things. I mean, I'm flattered, but you're a little young for me and species to species I'm not sure we mesh.'

Gohan blushed. He couldn't help it. He blushed as red as the drapes surrounding the bed. But he didn't wrap himself in them. He gave himself a pat on the back for resisting. Let her look. Let her see him naked and know that he would not be broken by humility.

'Where am I?'

She smiled and walked further in. 'Right now? I think maybe somewhere in the Kras Quadrant.'

'You think?'

She shrugged. 'Do you have a better idea?'

'I don't live here.'

'Neither do I. What difference does that make? This is a ship. We're always moving. Unless I have leave to go planet-side I don't much care where we are. The Lord tells us what we need to know.'

Kras Quadrant. That was a start. But where was that? How far from Earth? From home? Mum…

Gohan opened his senses. He could feel the alien woman's (was she even a woman? Gohan couldn't be sure) ki across the room. A bright star, but small. An unstoked fire. Not a fighter. He reached further out.

He sensed two people in the hallway outside. They were more powerful that the woman, but solid and unyielding. Rock to Gohan's water. Followers, who thrived under command.

Out and out. The further he went the more and more scraps of ki he brushed against, and failed to recognise. Warriors, healers, young, older. But never old. Out and out. Until he hit a wall. He slid along it at first, without realising it was there. Not thing could block ki. But it didn't even wobble. It was as though no life existed outside of this space ship. There was no ki. Gohan wretched. He slammed against the force field with enough power to make his head throb. But it would not yield. Mother. Bulma. Everyone he knew was somewhere on the other side. And he couldn't get to them even to see if they were alive or dead or if they existed at all.

'Are you ok? Can you hear me?'

Words. Gohan ignored them. He clawed his metaphysical fingers bloody. Dad had left Earth in his hands. She needed him. They needed him.

'Hey, are you ok?'

Something touched Gohan's arm. His consciousness slammed back into his head almost knocking him to the ground. For a moment he couldn't see. He blinked furiously. The alien woman's face swam into focus bearing a nervous smile.

'Are you back? Please, sit down. You shouldn't even be on your feet yet.'

Gohan barely noticed as she helped him stagger to the bed. He was grateful when she pulled a sheet over his lap. Bravado might keep him from preserving his own modesty but if she wanted to do it for him he wasn't going to argue.

She picked up his manacled wrist. Gohan automatically flinched away.

'Shh.'

Her hands brought no pain. Instead they sucked pain from him like the goo in the healing tank. She caressed the metal, eyes drawing together in a frown.

'Now this might feel a little strange…'

A shiver ran up Gohan's arm, lifting all the hairs in a Mexican wave.

'Good. We didn't anticipate you having such a violent reaction to the band. I'm afraid none of your species has ever worn one before. We should have been better prepared. How do you feel?'

Lost. Alone. Pummelled by guilt.

Terrified.

All he said was, 'I was told I could go home.'

She grinned and punched him in the arm. Not hard. She used the gesture like she'd learnt it from a book. She didn't meet his eyes. 'Later. You're in space. And I know a little about your planet's limited space travel capabilities. Breathe it in. This is a great opportunity.'

'But-'

'Later. What's the harm in a little adventure? We'll show you everything.'

He should go home. Where he was needed. So much damage to repair.

'You're planet isn't going anywhere.'

She was right. The Earth wasn't going anywhere. Besides they had the Dragonballs. All the damage could be wished away. And he was curious. Wasn't his Mum always kneading his brain? Telling him to learn. What harm could a few hours do?

-----

The soldier knelt before his Lord with a fist pressed to his heart. He quivered with pride. His father would smile from his grave. The room was too dark to make out more than silhouettes. Nevertheless he kept his head bowed.

But he could _feel_ his Lordship. Feel the power. It seized him and he would tear out his still beating heart to please it.

'My Lord. The child is awake and well. Kaylin is with him.'

Silence. What did silence mean? When his Lord finally spoke the soldier felt a great weight lift from his chest.

'This news is good. You have pleased me. Have someone sent to clear the sinner's body. You may take your leave.'

The soldier backed out on his knees, never once raising his eyes from the ground. He'd heard what happened to the lowly that dared meet his Lordship's eyes. Such raw power would melt a man's eyeballs from their sockets. The door opened. Light arrowed across the room from reception. For a moment it lit up a body with apple green skin and a once white coat now stained with body fluids. Its rigor mortis hands stretched for the doorway; its eyes locked forever on its last glimpse of light. Seconds later the light was only a memory. The sinner was rubbish to be tossed to the will of space. No one displeased the Lord.

A greater darkness shifted within the already dark room. So the boy remained on board. He was not immune to persuasion. Good. Soon he wouldn't wish to leave.

-----

A/N: Apologies for the delayed update. I had a lot of work the last week. So much so that my brain ceased to function.


	6. Thou shalt not lie

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ

-----

Thou shalt not lie

-----

Ok. Just a little word. Gohan used it often. But it is the little words that can change our lives most vividly, even if we don't realise they are doing so at the time.

'Ok.'

When the word slithered past Gohan's lips, Kaylin barely paused to grin before pressing a set of clothes into his hands. They were something like loose pyjamas; identical to hers, but blue to her white. They had as much substance as air. He might as well have stayed naked. No doubt his gi was in a bin somewhere. What was left of it. Or maybe they were dissecting it for DNA. No, they had his blood for that.

Gohan was still pulling up the trousers when Kaylin opened the door with a press of her palm and towed him through. It closed behind them, leaving a smooth expanse of wall with nothing but a black outline to suggest anything else was there at all. No going back then. Not that there was anything to go back to. At least not that way. The only way back was forward.

In both directions the corridor stretched like intestines through the belly of the ship. The monotony was broken only by the black outlines of doors honeycombing the walls. Gohan could only assume there were rooms behind them.

Kaylin glanced left and right without really seeing. 'Come on. There's not much time.'

She thought him fat for the slaughter. He almost pitied her. She was only a pawn after all. Almost. Gohan jerked his arm from her grip and ran before she even had time to look surprised.

The halls were open and empty but Gohan knew better than to believe his eyes. Someone would be watching. For the first time in months he was grateful to his Saiyan heritage. He smiled grimly, pushing for still more speed until the black doors vanished into the blur of the wall. Poor Kaylin. He shook his head. As though he'd give in to a murderer. A little research could have told them that. This Lord wasn't as clever as he thought. Cleverer than Frieza. Probably. He'd tried to win with words. More fool him for even thinking Gohan would yield. Death first.

Left, right, left, left, right. He didn't know where he was going, as long as it was away. Each wall ran smoothly, indistinguishably into the next. And he certainly couldn't ask for directions. The ship had to have a way to transport its hordes down to planets, and a fast way. How else had so many soldiers smothered Earth's skies so quickly? They certainly hadn't sprung from the ground. But where?

The corridor turned sharp left. And ended abruptly. Or maybe not. The wall ahead was marred by a black outline. Gohan didn't pause. He ran at it with palms outstretched. He closed his eyes.

And slammed into it. Shock ran up his arms to his joints. His elbows buckled and he thumped his forehead on the wall. No. He didn't have time for this. He thumped the door again.

'Come on. Come on.'

Nothing. It didn't even flex.

'No!'

Without warning, something slammed into the side of him. Gohan would have stumbled if his feet had still been on the ground. Instead he found himself cocooned against a warm chest. He blinked and tried to pull free, but his arms were forcibly folded around his rib cage, like a straitjacket. Gohan jerked against the hands holding him. They didn't move. Gohan frowned. His eyes flickered shut and he reached for his ki. One shot would be enough.

'I wouldn't do that.'

Gohan's eyes snapped open. Kaylin glared up at him, fists on her hips. Gohan was pleased to see she was panting. Her scowl deepened.

But all trace of pleasure fled when the being holding him spoke and reminded Gohan just how much trouble he was in. 'Is the little powerhouse safe?' The voice vibrated into the back of Gohan's head.

Kaylin's nostrils flared. 'He's in lockdown and he can stay that way.'

'Let me go.' Gohan squirmed, but all he managed to do was kick his captor's legs.

'Ooh feisty. Twitchy thing, isn't he. And so tiny. Like a doll.'

Gohan scowled, not that the man could see, and kicked his legs again for good measure. 'I'm not little. You're just too big for your brain to cope with.'

The top of Gohan's head didn't even reach halfway up his kidnapper's chest. Gohan twisted around to glare up at the hulk of a man. He received a grin in return.

Kaylin's groan drew both their attention. 'This is not happening. Don't antagonize him, Cro. We don't have time for this. And please calm down, Gohan. You're a guest here. There's no need to be like this.'

'If I'm a guest then let me go.'

Kaylin sighed and massaged her forehead. Gohan felt no guilt. His job wasn't to make her life easier.

'We're to take him to the engine room.'

'You want me to carry him?'

'You will 'escort' him there. And you will make sure we all arrive on time.'

Gohan thrashed again, almost nailing Cro in the groin. If his species even had groins there. Or groins at all for that matter.

_He was right there_. They could at least pretend they weren't ignoring him. 'I'm not going anywhere.'

He snatched at his ki. One quick blast should do it. And found nothing. Or rather he found his ki he just couldn't reach it. It was locked behind the same shield, which isolated the ship from the rest of the universe. Gohan's stomach lurched.

'Watch it!'

'Don't!'

Kaylin needn't have worried. Gohan didn't even notice the arms releasing him. He dropped to the floor and clutched his curdling stomach. His ki was gone. Gone. Ki was life. He couldn't live without life.

'That was unexpected.'

The voices came to him through treacle.

'Shut up, Cro. No, don't kick him. Gohan, are you ok?'

Was he ok? Of course not. They couldn't do this to him and expect him to be ok.

Someone took hold of his wrist. 'A little fast but nothing out of the ordinary.' The same someone rubbed at the small of his back. It didn't keep him from trembling.

'What have you done to me?'

Kaylin stroked his hair away from his eyes. 'Shh. I've made you safe. Safe for me and safe for the rest of the crew. You're upset right now. I can't have you losing control.'

As though he would. His life was one long bid for control.

Hulk chuckled. 'She's cut your balls off kid. Never piss off the power.'

'Cro stop it. Just carry him.'

Kaylin slapped her hand against the door Gohan had been unable to open. It dissolved beneath her palm. She saw him watching and her glower melted a little.

'DNA sensitive. At least for the carbon base among us. You're not keyed in to the system. Did you really think we'd risk you roaming free on a ship filled with crew with no defence against you? Why do you think you saw no one on your little jaunt?'

She was right. It must cost a fortune to run a ship this size. No corner would be empty without reason. Gohan thudded his head against his fist.

'If you need beating up at least let someone else make a go of it, kid.'

Piccolo called him kid.

Cro picked Gohan up by the middle, this time with his arms pinned to his sides. The hands held him as though he were porcelain and still he couldn't break free. He could have cried. Instead he ground his heel into Cro's thigh. Cro chuckled and stepped through the door after Kaylin. Gohan had no choice but to go with them.

'Stop it. That tickles.'

-----

'Put him down…'

'Cro, sir.' Cro supplemented without having to be asked

'Put him down, Cro.'

Cro opened his arms and stepped back. Gohan landed in a crouch, perfectly positioned to take out Cro's legs if he'd stayed put. Maybe the man wasn't so stupid after all.

The room was semicircular. They'd entered via the flat side. The curved wall ahead was a concave window, like a box at a football game. Like being in a bubble.

'Gohan. I do hope you are well. It pleases me to receive your company under these more civilised conditions.'

At their first meeting the Lord had been hidden behind the blur of Gohan's own concussion. Now facing the window as he was, Gohan could only assume it was the same man with the same waist hugging coat and the same black hair cascading to his hipbones like a waterfall of night. His lapels oversized lapels sprung like horns from his shoulders. Either they were very large or he had his coat pulled open and chest bared. Gohan wasn't sure he wanted to find out which. But Gohan recognised the voice of an angel.

The Lord lifted a hand and beckoned to Gohan without deigning to turn. 'Come dear child. Feed upon the wonders of the universe, which your primitive culture still fails to conquer. You will enjoy this, I think. If you know what you see. I hope you do. What is power, after all, without the brilliance to wield it?'

Gohan snorted quietly. Chi Chi would brain any man for calling her son stupid.

Cro twitched when Gohan stepped towards the window, towards his Lord, but he didn't stop him. The glass was dark, like a looking through a pair of sunglasses. Even so, Gohan had to squint at the glowing container below. He pressed his forehead to the glass as though those few millimetres closer could explain what his eyes were telling him.

'What is it?' His voice was barely above a breath.

'A star.'

Gohan's head snapped around. Surely he was joking. But though the Lord bore a smile no different to the one, which never seemed to leave his face. Gohan shook his head.

'But the smallest known stars are 20km in diameter!'

'You know better than that, Gohan. Why should your views alone be truth simply because you have not conceived further?'

The glow compelled Gohan's eyes. A star. So close that he might touch it. No wonder these people could lock his ki away so easily. Humans had battled for centuries to harness the power of nuclear fusion and all they'd succeeded in were atrocities. The hydrogen bomb. A loss of control would unleash the power of a supernova. And here these aliens had harnessed the engine of the star itself. Gohan laid his fingers on the glass. He couldn't feel a trace of the four million Kelvin temperatures writhing behind it.

'How do you do it?' He couldn't keep the awe from his voice.

The Lord drummed his fingers together. 'I can't claim to know all the details. And I am not so brazen as to claim the genius behind the art. But we have shields which keep the star matter in and the heavier matter out.'

Gohan shook his head. 'How can you not know how it works?' This man trusted his life and the life of his crew to a tool he didn't understand.

The Lord's laugh was light, like a soprano choir. 'And do you know the functions of all technology on your planet? Dear boy, simply be glad it does work and you are still standing here. Or would you rather your atoms were scattered to the cosmos?'

The Lord was wrong of course. Gohan knew a great deal about Earth technology, from first principles. His mother was no half-hearted slave driver. But he understood. Most people on Earth turned on their toasters daily without any knowledge as to what browned their bread. If Earth's energy ran dry half the population would die of ignorance. Bulma would pay in organs to be here. To see this at least she'd know it was possible.

'Pretty isn't it.'

Again Gohan gawped at him. But his smile was still unchanged. He really wasn't joking. They were a hand's span from a power capable of killing them and everyone on the ship before they even knew it and he thought it was pretty? No, killing wasn't strong enough. Every one of their atoms would be split.

'Alas, I must drag you away, child. There are people I would wish you meet.'

-----

Piccolo pulled himself towards his waterfall. Just a few more feet and then at least he could wash off the blood. His breath rattled in his throat. Each movement of his ribs was a stab through the lungs. If not for instinct he would have stopped breathing all together.

The battle and the city were far behind him. He'd flown away at first. When he could fly no more he'd walked. And when his legs had buckled he'd crawled. Every muscle was a furnace lit by the slightest movement.

Piccolo reached the water's edge. The moment his head was over the lip of the bank he let his face fall into the pool. And held it there. They had lost. And he had fled like a coward. Not that there was anything he could have done. Good sense had advised him to flee and fight another day, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

Piccolo's lungs battered his chest for air but he forced his head deeper. Gohan's scream. He'd heard it and done nothing. He'd turned away when the child needed him most. A child who had more courage to fight than he did. If Gohan could see him now… Some teacher he was.

A little voice in his mind interrupted him. When the little hand touched his back, he wasn't alarmed. If it had been possible to sigh underwater without drowning Piccolo would have done so. It wasn't the kid's fault. He was trying to help.

'Piccolo? Are you well?'

It depended on your definition of well. He was alive. Piccolo lifted his dripping head out of the water and answered via his vocal cords rather than his mind. His voice was only slightly more hoarse than normal. From screaming. Hopefully Dende wouldn't notice.

'I'm ok, kid.'

Dende's shadow shuffled awkwardly on the grass beside him. 'You're injured. Wait. Let me…'

Heat soaked into Piccolo's body, starting at his skin and wriggling its way inwards dissolving the particles of pain as it went. Only now did Piccolo realise how shallow his breaths had become. How many ribs had he broken?

'Piccolo, I'm sorry. I didn't sense them coming in time. I-'

Piccolo cut him off. Dende was too young for self-reproach. It wasn't his fault. No child should be in his position of responsibility. Piccolo sighed. And they needed Dende now more than ever. How long would it take to gather the Dragonballs? 'It's ok, kid. It's not your fault.'

'I-'

Piccolo frowned. Bulma's ki was weak but he could feel her. She lived. Good. They'd need the Dragon radar. 'Everything is going to be ok.'

Ok. Such a little world. An affirmation? Often. An assurance? Maybe. More often than not it is a lie. The hope of its user. And hope has a habit of letting you down.

-----

HNL


	7. And the truth will not set you free

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ.

-----

And the Truth will not set you free

-----

'My Lord. We have the bloods back on the boy.'

The young medic shifted from foot to foot. He tried to keep his eyes on the floor but he couldn't keep from glancing into the shadows of the room, trying to find the one he was addressing. He didn't want to find him. He didn't want to be there and if the Lord even suspected…

Malvae had turned sinner from a single, unforeseeable mistake. Even though the boy had suffered no side effects. The soldier's quarters, who's silence was normally broken only by marching feet, bubbled with intrigue over Commander Anura. No one had seen or heard from the Commander for quite some time. His last sightings connected him to the boy. All stories. All rumours. All leading back to the same place. And rumours had a habit of holding truth. After all, they had to come from somewhere.

'And what do you have to tell me.' The voice slid from the darkness like a knife into flesh: sharp and just as deadly. The medic jumped despite himself.

'They're not what we expected, sir.'

'In what way?'

The medic flinched. 'Even accounting for the morphological differences the leap is too great. It takes millennia for mutations to build in a species and-'

'What is your point?'

Deep breath. 'He's not human, sir'

-----

Gohan's voice was ice. His eyes glazed over as they did before battle, locking his humanity away where it couldn't be hurt. 'Well maybe I don't wish to meet them.'

The Lord was already moving toward a door on the other side of the room. Gohan was loath to say he walked. He was more like a ballet dancer free from the confines of gravity. As though air slippered his feet. So moved the Lord. And when he did no eye could leave him.

The Lord reached the door and glanced back over his shoulder. He cocked his head, questioningly as though surprised Gohan hadn't followed. His little smile made love to his lips.

'Don't be silly, child.'

Gohan lifted his wrist. His sleeve bunched around his elbow revealing the brass bangle welded there. 'Then what's this?'

'For your protection. So we know where you are?'

Like a micro-chipped animal. 'And why do you need to know where I am?' Why are you hiding so much? Only those with something to hide didn't answer questions. And the Lord didn't answer so well: dancing from one topic to the next, distracting with a wave of his hand. A lesser intellect would have lost himself. Gohan knew better. He was no guest. He was a prisoner. He just didn't know why.

'You wound me child. So little trust in one so young. Have I not nursed you back to health? Have I not provided the finest services?'

It was the Lord's influence that had left Gohan in poor health in the first place. Gohan opened his mouth to protest again. But closed it without saying a word. Cro, on the other side of the room, crossed his arms. He did it so Gohan couldn't fail to notice the movement out of the corner of his eye. As if Gohan wouldn't have noticed anyway. They shouldn't underestimate him.

Gohan understood. So much for apologies. So much for promises. He was to follow at the Lord's heels wearing an invisible leash, either under his own power or with a whip at his rear to persuade him. Well what harm could it do for now. As long as he knew he was still in control of himself. Maybe he could find some answers.

Gohan sighed and pushed away from the star's aquarium. Cro tensed the moment he moved towards the Lord. It was a mark of a soldier's training and trust that Cro didn't leave his position. But he did frown and rise onto his toes, ready to scurry to his master's bidding. Ready to cut Gohan down.

The Lord's eyes dazzled Gohan like rubies to greed. 'Good. Now that wasn't so hard was it.'

Gohan half expected the Lord to pat him on the head. Every step was a wrench. Every step forward was one more he had to take back. His father would have trusted the Lord's word. He would at least have given him a second chance. To Goku the world was ice cream. Gohan saw the rat's tails in the cornet. Goku had given Freeza a second chance and look where that had left him. Years separated from his family. As good as dead.

The Lord took hold of Gohan's upper arm, dissolved the door with his palm, and propelled Gohan through it.

-----

It was like being on stage. The Lord took the spotlight and glittered gold within it. Still Gohan could feel their glances. The councilmen were wraiths at the table, each shrouded in black, their faces hidden in the shadows of their hoods. Gohan shivered. If they even had faces. Every one had his hands crossed neatly on the table in front of him, right over left. The Lord looked like a child in comparison and yet they didn't cross him. Gohan had seen what happened to those who did.

'…Hear me My ministers! I present to you the reason for our little detour. A new age. A lamb to baptise and embrace. A new species hits its pinnacle. I present to you an evolutionary leap. To take him into our fold and become one of us. Neo sapiens. New Human.'

The Lord stepped to the side and the light fell on Gohan. The shadowy holes turned towards him. The mass movement of material diffused around the room like drumming fingers. Gohan didn't know where to look. Their stare drove him backwards, but the door wouldn't open to his touch. If he'd known what he'd find before stepping into the room he would have put up more of a fight. Cro holding him would have been better than this. At least then he wouldn't have been alone.

They had no ki. It wasn't just hidden. It wasn't there at all. Gohan's stomach twisted. He looked to the side, to the ceiling, anywhere, as though they might disappear if he ignored them hard enough. The colour had long since drained from his face. How could the Lord keep shining?

If Gohan had been thinking more clearly he might not have said what he did.

'But I'm not human.'

For the first time the Lord's smile faltered. His gesturing arm drooped. 'Oh?'

Gohan swallowed. 'Well I am. I mean, my Mum's human. My Dad is… was… well… Saiyan.'

Silence already filled the room. But it fell again still deeper. And it was far from golden.

-----

HNL


End file.
